For Joan Esnayra, worry about the potential effect of radiation was enough to get her involved in a citizen testing program.

She and her husband had lived in Washington, D.C., for 14 years and bought a house in Bella Coola in 2008. They loved the remote coastal community so much it became their annual vacation getaway.

Bella Coola was also where they wanted to retire.

Then they found they had bought a home in the path of the radioactive plume from Fukushima.

It was particularly troubling for Esnayra because she was a breast cancer survivor who attributed her recovery to complementary and alternative medicine.

Searching online, she came across OurRadioactiveOcean.org, the website started by scientist Ken Buesseler to crowd-fund radiation sampling sites along the west coast. She noticed that the David Suzuki Foundation had already sponsored two sites in B.C.

“While we were driving the U-Haul across the continent, I was thinking about the future,” said Esnayra, who moved permanently to Bella Coola with her husband six weeks ago.

“How do we get this started? One of the things that drew us here is that half of the population in the Bella Coola Valley is aboriginal.”

Since Esnayra and her husband both have aboriginal backgrounds, she thought she could combine her interests in First Nations issues and her training as a scientist to get the Nuxalk First Nation and the Bella Coola Valley Tourist Association involved in taking part in the sea water sampling program.

So far, her site has raised $120. Her goal is to raise $7,200 to pay for four samples a year for three years.

“I’m doing this because this is probably a new reality we have to face. I think with my scientific training, I’m in a position where I can turn this into a positive constructive, community engagement activity,” she said by phone from her home.

“As someone recovering from early stage breast cancer, I need to pay attention to things like radioactivity in my environment.”

Another citizen scientist is David Gagnon who is fundraising for a sampling spot at Whytecliff Park in West Vancouver. Gagnon chose the park because it’s popular with local divers like himself.

So far, he’s raised $320 of $600 for one sample. He’s hopes to raise enough money for several samples over the next few years.

An electrical engineer by training, he said he always wanted to be a marine biologist as a child. As an adult, he’s followed oceanography as a hobby and thinks the Woods Hole project is a “really great idea.

“The oceans aren’t limited to the United States or Canada,” Gagnon said. “It’s a great community-funded approach. I’m a diver and I thought the community here would be interested in it and help fund the project.”

Jay Ritchlin, the David Suzuki Foundation’s director general for the western region, said the two sites it helped crowd-fund have their testing kits from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and are waiting to take samples. He said the goal is to take three to six samples per site.

The foundation is also looking to support other test sites on Saltspring Island and Quadra Island.

He said the response from the public has been overwhelming.

“So many people feel that this disaster is out there, looming, and don’t have any way to engage with it,” he said.

“The government may release a little bit of information but don’t seem to be proactive and trying to help Canadians understand it.

“We raised the money almost before we finished asking for it. I think the comment that keeps coming back to me is that sense of agency: ‘I know that this is out of my control but at least I’m trying to do something.’ ”

Ritchlin emphasized that the expected amount of radioactive cesium does not represent any credible health risk.

“(People) feel better about getting that information if they’ve been engaged,” he said. “There is a reluctance to acceptance that information at a certain level — and I share that reluctance.”

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Citizen scientist rallies community in Bella Coola to get involved in radiation sampling

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